


Lemon Drop

by unseasonedrats



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - College/University, Bisexual Male Character, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Gavin Reed Being Less of an Asshole, Human Upgraded Connor | RK900, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Trans Gavin Reed, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Different Name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 02:48:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30116016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unseasonedrats/pseuds/unseasonedrats
Summary: Everyone said college would bring a lot of new experiences. Dive bars are a rite of passage in undergrad, right? When the "prim and proper" Niles Stern gets dragged into the local college hot spot for his birthday, things take a whole new direction.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	Lemon Drop

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, welcome to "shit Sage wrote at 12am instead of studying for his classes". I had the idea of "bar owner Gavin and Tired But Of Age To Drink Ni" immediately after an 8am Zoom lecture. I am looking forward to this fic and I hope you are as well, reader. For the record, I know absolutely nothing about Michigan except it is a state. So if any Michiganders read this and are like "that is not what Ann Arbor is like now I gotta leave an angry comment", I plead my innocence here. I'm from the West Coast but hey, I do plan on applying to U-M when I apply for transfers later. A man can hope. The OC interaction is only so apparent in the first few chapters since I needed a filler to push the plot along, he won't be there much once this storyline gets rolling. Anyway, enjoy this, or don't. I can't tell you what to do.

Junior year of college was supposed to “exciting” and “easier since you know your major”, or so they said. Sitting in his dorm at what he assumed was around two in morning writing a thesis for a critical analysis of some obscure topic that he had little to no interest in was not fun. One might say that Niles didn’t know how to have fun. The pretentious presentation he gave with turtlenecks with sweaters over them and Chelsea boots may have contributed to the assumption, but as one might say, it’s a fallacy. A misuse of logos if you will. A hasty generalization. His English double major is showing. 

Getting accepted to the University of Michigan was a dream come true. Ann Arbor had a different feel than where he had grown up aside from being an excellent school. His older brother had attended the school previously and received his bachelors in kinesiology and was working on becoming a physical therapist. While he admired his will to help others, a job that required you to touch people all day was Niles’ idea of a personal hell. Double majoring in political science and English meant that he had exactly three career options: attorney, politician, or professor. What a selection. They all involve arguing with the uneducated like you didn’t spend almost a decade studying it when you could be sleeping. If he was this pessimistic in his third year, he could only imagine how pleasant postgraduate school would be. His eyes were dry from having to stare at a screen all night, a sign it was time to give it up and get some rest before tomorrow. On a brighter note, he had enough seniority by now that he didn’t have to add/drop his way into 10ams or settle for 7ams. Nobody can be a functional human at 7am. 

Word document? Saved. Laptop? Shut down. Also plugged in because a dead laptop was more useless than your partner in a group project. Time to crawl into bed and set an alarm. 

Alarm is set for 5 hours and 48 minutes from now…how delightful. 

No matter how sleep deprived he was, he refused to be like his neighbor who practically lived off of Monster energy drinks. No shade to him, regardless of the mullet and harsh demeanor he quite enjoyed their dorms being next door to each other for the last couple of years. Jude was also a political science major with a double major, but in psychology. A good debate was just a knock away. Yet the copious amounts of caffeine were the only thing keeping that man in one piece, and hardly that. With his phone on its charger, Niles curled up into his blankets and closed his eyes. Tomorrow, or rather today, was another busy day in the life of an undergrad. 

Before he knew it, he was awoken to the sound of his alarm. It was a good five hours. Laying on his back he reached a hand up to rub his eyes and contemplate how much he needed this degree. Perhaps he should heed his own advice and clean up his own sleep schedule. To be fair, it wasn’t this bad before midterms. Since October it was all downhill. Rolling out of bed, he straightened out his sheets and tucked them neatly into the top of his bed. Something about a 6’4 in a half man sleeping on a twin bed wasn’t adding up. But he somehow made it work. 

A quick check of today’s forecast told him that the highs were only in the 40s. Typical for this time of year, and it would soon start snowing more. Oh, how he loved the snow. It reminded him of being a young boy and waking up to run outside with Connor to play in it. Their mother quickly caught on to the brother’s habits and made sure to sternly tell them to wear a coat before they went out. Even on the hardest days, Niles remembered that he wanted to make her proud. She was a wise woman with a guiding hand who upbrought him to be the best man he could be. Taking after her not only in her stoicism but looks made the man smile a bit to himself. Wavy chestnut hair, a fair complexion and baby blues were all trademarks of Claudia Stern and her son, Niles Benjamin Stern. After washing up in the communal, he rummaged through his dresser drawers before settling on some clothing. Today’s outfit consisted of a sage green turtleneck, black sweater vest and black slacks with a belt to tie it together. His dark brown trench coat would join in as both an accessory and necessity. His aesthetic was dark academia as some may call it, although he really wasn’t too concerned with whatever label was attached to him. If you asked him, anyone who desperately clings to their labels of clothing, music and whatever else probably peaked in high school. 

Patting his pocket, he made sure his keys and phone were there before shutting his door behind him. A trip to the café across the street for a cup of coffee and whatever pasty was fresh baked. Was today the day they made the almond ones? Or was it lemon poppy seed day. That wasn’t important and he would find out once he got there. Strolling down the street, Niles passed by a bar that the locals knew as “The Rat Hole”. It had the look and feel of a sleazy dive bar. Students were notorious for getting caught having sex in the stalls, rumor has it that the cheerleader who is rumored to have caught the clap from the quarterback got it there. STDs and rumors both spread like wildfire. Fortunately, one of those went away with a weeks’ regimen of penicillin. Niles was only 20 for another 10 days. On November 20th, he would be of age to legally drink. Bold of anyone to assume anyone in a college town waited until it was legal to consume alcohol. That was a fact he could testify himself from knowing his neighbors. Knowing Jude, he would be dragged out on his 21st to drink “because you have to Ni, it’s your birthday”. 

“You just want to go because you’re trying to get a job there.”

“No, I want to go because you need to enjoy yourself. Gavin already said I’m hired, by the way.”

“Do I know a Gavin?” 

"He owns the place, dumbass."

Gavin Reed was a well-known man in the community. Of course, anyone who owned a place frequented by the students would be. Known for a short temper and rather rough attitude, the bar owner had managed to go from the top of his class studying physics, to a successful business owner by age 26. NASA to napoleons, just how he wanted it to be. By the looks of it, he had outdone himself. Apparently, Niles was the weird one for not knowing who he was. He learned though. A lot of local bands played in the bar, some of which he knew some of the people who played in them. Overall, he wasn’t opposed to the place. It just wasn’t the scene for him. To each their own, right?

Just a few doors down was the café, the smell of something baking wafting out through the propped open door. Yeah, it was definitely almond croissant day. All he needed to start a day of four lectures, a club meeting and hours of homework was carbs and caffeine. Perhaps a tad of spite could be of assistance as well. He stepped inside and gave a small smile to the wonderful couple who owned and ran the place. By now they were on the first name basis and had his order down by memory depending on the day. “Good morning Niles. Let me guess, 2 almonds fresh baked with a large coffee, 2 creams 1 sugar?” The man behind the counter gave a hearty chuckle before grabbing a paper cup to fill the order. “Anything else? How’s your friend?” This time the woman asked the questions, working as a team with her husband. Luther and Kara were always a welcome conversation. “Ah Jude is fine. Still being himself, take what you want from that. Maybe make it three, thanks.” 

“You mean with the mullet, yeah? Don’t meet many people named that.” A gruff voice asked. Behind Niles was a man in the leather jacket with curly brown hair that appeared to have had gel in it at some point. Or grease, both were viable options upon first glace. 

“Pardon? Have we met before? I don’t recall making your acquaintance.” 

“Oh, an English major? Did I get it right? If I guess your major I get to buy your breakfast.” 

“That’s…one of them, yes. I’m a double major in political science as well. But I can buy my own food, thank you though. But in regards to your original question, yes. He’s in the dorm adjacent to mine. I’ll take that you own that bar, correct?” Niles replied in a flat tone, thanking Luther for his breakfast as he dropped his change into the tip jar. Support your local businesses.

“I can see both of those in you. I was physics, shocking. I just hired the guy though, hopefully he turns out good. Just don’t hear the name much, not to repeat myself. I’m Gavin, AKA “the guy who owns the bar”, I respond to both. You should stop by sometime.” Gavin ordered a few pastries and two cups of coffee, one black one with 5 creams 5 sugars. It wasn’t for him; he was a dark roast type of man. Bitter man, bitter coffee. 

“While I am flattered by such kind offers on this lovely morning, I am not of drinking age. Not until the 20th that is.”

“Ah so I’ll see you the 20th then? Sounds great, drinks on the house for the birthday boy.”

Was he flirting? Niles felt like he was flirting.

“Who said I was planning on coming?” 

“You will.” And with that, Gavin paid, thanked, tipped and left. 

Standing there with a brown paper sack of delicacies in one hand and a coffee in the other, Niles tried to make sense of the conversation that has just occurred. It looked like he was going to The Rat Hole after all. Oh, how he would be hearing about this in the halls tonight. “Have a great day, tell Alice I said hello. If she needs tutoring, you know I’ll be back around tomorrow for more. I truly am spoiled by you guys and your culinary skills.” Niles sipped his coffee and went in the direction that lead back to campus. 

Quite the morning, and bound to be quite the day at this rate. Once more he walked by the bar with the short conversation replaying in his mind over and over and over and...

Yeah. It was bound to be quite the day.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, you read this? Did you like it? Leave a comment or kudos if you did, or don't. I just enjoy the validation. 
> 
> IG: shreddycheddy


End file.
